The 67th Daytona 500 will have a 41st driver as four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves uses a new NASCAR provisional to make his Cup debut in The Great American Race on Sunday.
Castroneves crashed on Lap 14 of the first Duel qualifying race. In a multi-car wreck caused by Chandler Smith, Castroneves’ No. 91 Chevrolet hit the outside wall with its right rear, breaking a toe link.
While driving back to the pits, Castroneves accidentally steered his left front onto the apron. His car shot up the banking into the outside wall with a heavy right-front impact and then slid back onto the infield grass. Jimmie Johnson said he wasn’t happy when he learned about NASCAR’s new provisional and that he wouldn’t be able to use it at Daytona.
“I should have brought it down on the warmup lane,” Castroneves told FS1. “I was a little fast. The second hit was a little bit tough. But the good news is hopefully the guys are going to be able to fix the car.
But I learned so much. How to save fuel, small details that folks don’t understand. It’s so interesting. I love it. We’re going to have to take the provisional. That’s not what I wanted, but we will, and in the end, I have more to learn.”
Despite the rookie mistake at Daytona International Speedway, Castroneves, who has two victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race, was saved by his superstar reputation.
Although he didn’t make the 40-car field based on qualifying speed or race results, the 2007 “Dancing With The Stars” winner is still in the Daytona 500 as the 41st driver due to a new NASCAR rule for the 2025 season. This rule guarantees a spot for a “world-class driver” in every Cup race.
His Trackhouse Racing entry won’t earn points or prize money in his NASCAR debut. Drivers finishing behind Castroneves in the Daytona 500 will have their positions adjusted up one spot, with their prize money, race points, and stage points also adjusted.
Helio Castroneves talls to other driversCastroneves was given the Open Exemptional Provisional for the Daytona 500 because Trackhouse Racing applied before the deadline had passed, after many teams learned of the new rule, which has been heavily criticized by several prominent drivers, including Denny Hamlin.
“It reeks of desperation,” Hamlin said before The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. “I don’t know how else to say it. I don’t know how nice you can really say it. It just feels like you are really trying to get any kind of headline you can to be relevant, and I don’t love it.
To me, it is a short-term gain, long-term loss. I just think that you are premier stock car series in the U.S. The premier racing sport in the U.S. Be the big boys and force people to come in here and get their credentials and do it the natural way.
I don’t think it is going to be a big factor anywhere other than Daytona, but saying that someone has a name that interests you and that they are going to have an automatic bid in the highest form of motorsports in the U.S. I don’t love it.”
Past champions Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, who both had to qualify for the race without any guarantees, were also unhappy about the rule.
“We really didn’t know about it until the rule came out (in January),” Johnson said on Wednesday. “Evidently, it was buried in the charter agreement that was pushed out. When the rule came out … three minutes later we were on the phone with NASCAR and recognized that it wasn’t in the 90-day window (before the 500) and that we weren’t eligible.
We’ve had a lot of talks with everyone at NASCAR. I have a better understanding of the intent of the rule. I would anticipate some changes following here to better define and clarify that.”
